Iran suffers as earthquake bodycount continues to rise

Azerbaijan, Baku, Aug. 13 /Trend S.Isayev, T. Jafarov/

The bodycount in Iran's recent earthquakes continues to rise, Iran's Minister of Health and Medical Education Marzieh Vahid-Dastjerdi said, IRIB news reported.

According to Vahid-Dastjerdi, there were six more people declared dead, as the total deathtoll reached 306 people.

She said that overall 268 of 306 people died in the hospitals, adding that 219 of them were women, and 49 men. She also noted that overall 968 people underwent various operations in the hospitals.

Earlier today another earthquake hit the East Azerbaijani province of Iran. The quake occured at approximately 6:27 on Monday morning in East Azerbaijan's Varzagan city.

So far there is no information on whether people were injured or killed as a result of the quake.

Head of Iran's anti-crisis organization Hossein Gadhami said today that 60 percent of 115 villages in the East Azerbaijan province were destroyed.

He added that today special construction groups will star re-building the damaged and destroyed buildings.

The quake first hit Iran on August 11. Since then the death toll has risen to 306 people, about 2,500 were injured, ISNA news agency quoted the Head of Iranian Red Crescent Society Mahmud Muzaffar.

According to him, more than 16,000 people housed in tents. Muzaffar said that on the ground are 92 teams of rescuers total of 9,000 people who came from 14 provinces of the country, as well as six helicopters.

According to provincial officials, 113 villages suffered damage of varying severity.

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